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Informative Essay On Lupus

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There are many diseases out in the world; one of the least talked about is lupus. Lupus is an autoimmune disease with about 1.5 million people in America living with it. Though no one truly knows the cause for it, it is chronic. This affects the inside of your body including your organs, heart, lungs, kidneys, blood vessels, brain and joints. Your skin can also be damaged as well. When one has this disease it means that your immune system which fights off bacteria, infection, and germs, your body has a harder time at protecting itself. Everyone’s body produces protein or B cells which are known as antibodies, it defends the body from viruses. Since lupus is an autoimmune disease, it is very hard to tell the difference between invaders and …show more content…

At least ninety percent of people living with this disease are women. Facts show that “Lupus is two to three times more common in African American women than in Caucasian women and is also more common in women of Hispanic, Asian, and Native American descent” as said by lupusresearch.org. People with this can also get flares; feel fatigue, get arthritis, fevers and rashes along their body. Since everyone is different, some people might need medication from anti-inflammation to even taking chemotherapy medication. Doctors are doing what is known as clinical trials to try and find better medicine and a cure. Through this they can tell if drugs and therapy will be safe or even effective on people since there are many different types. The way that some people can tell if they have lupus is if they have “sensitivity to light, hair loss, chest pains, anemia, purple fingers, dizziness and even depression” lupusresearch.org.
The different types of lupus include systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). “The word “systemic” means the disease can affect many parts of the body,” lupusresearch.org. The symptoms of SLE can range from moderate to grave. SLE mainly affects people between the ages of 15 and 45 years if can happen earlier or even later for some people. Discoid lupus erythematosus is a long-term skin disorder. This is when red rashes appear on the face or other parts of the body. This can last up to weeks and maybe even

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According to the Lupus Foundation of America, it affects 1.5 million Americans both men and women, but most commonly begins from ages 20 to 45 years. 90% of the patients are women, branding it as the “woman’s disease.” Scientists has been unsuccessful in linking the disease to a specific gene. The only common thread that they were able to piece together were the fact that the disease is seen in most of the ethnic patients of African-Americans and Asians descendants. Scientists are still figuring out how Lupus is contracted.

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The cause of this disease is unknown. This disease can happen to anyone both men and women any from the ages as early as 10-30 years of age. There are many speculations on what could cause this skin disease such as, some researchers think it is an autoimmune disease, if you have an autoimmune disease you may have more of a chance of getting vitiligo. Autoimmune diseases

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It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly the wrist and hands are involved with typically the same joints involved on both sides of the body. GG has the painful disease in 32 of her joints. While chemotherapy is most often used to treat cancerous tumors, the drugs can be used in lower dosages to treat rheumatoid arthritis.

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Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is a long term disease that causes inflammation of various tissues in the body. Symptoms associated with SLE are fever, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle aches, joint pain, fatigue, hair loss, shortness of breath, rapid or irregular heartbeat, and protein in urine, but for the most part it will depend on which part of the body is being affected. Many people with SLE have flares in which symptoms get

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Dermatomyositis is an uncommon inflammatory muscular disease, which involves the degeneration of collagen, discoloration and swelling of the skin and underlying muscle. Dermatomyositis is known by it’s distinctive skin rash and muscle weakness. Dermatomyositis affects children and adults, but it usually affects children between the ages of five and fifteen, and it occurs in adults in their late forties through sixties. Dermatomyositis is also more commonly found in females than males.

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Also, reactions like photosensitivity, loss of appetite, ulcers, and hair loss may occur (Shiel, et al., 1996.) Treatment Since the cause of SLE is unknown, Systemic Lupus Erythematous does not have a defi-nite cure (Shiel, et al., 1996.) All further treatment mechanisms only alleviate symptoms and lessen inflammation of organs, but do not eliminate them. Another factor to consider when going about treatment of Systemic Lupus Erythematous is the severity of the disease. For example, one with SLE that has few symptoms may need little or no treatment.

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Celiac disease is a disease that affects at least 3 million Americans including myself. A gluten free diet is often written off as a fad diet but for those living with Celiac, it is anything but. This disease affects your daily life, physically and mentally. I chose this disease because it affects me personally (and my mom and granddad) and many people don’t understand or simply don’t want to understand what Celiac is. Celiac disease is an immune disorder where people can’t tolerate gluten (gluten is wheat, rye, barley, and is mainly in bread products but is also used as a filler for many other food items) because it damages the inner lining of their small intestine.

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While it protects against skin damage from ultraviolet rays in sunlight and may protect your body against organ damage linked to lupus” (webmd.com). Corticosteroids is another drug that is prescribed when the lupus disease has infected your heart, lungs, kidneys, brain or blood vessels. It is a more serious drug, which is why it can prevent long term organ damage. But like all strong prescriptions they have serious side effects. This is a stronger drug because it “makes part of your immune system overactive, so it attacks healthy tissue by mistake and weakens your immune response” (webmd.com).

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The sunlight causes my eyes to swell and lips become irritated, “ said Ruffin. Although, Lupus is curable there are still many complications with the disease. “There are pains constantly in your body throughout all your joints. You have to keep fighting because Lupus is the silent killer.

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Celiac Disease is a disease that occurs in your stomach and intestines. There are these things called Villi in your small intestines, they are like almost hairs, to absorb the food and protein. When a Celiac eats the slightest speck of gluten; a protein found in wheat, barley, malt, oat and flour the body sends out an immune response and kills all the Villi in the small intestine. Some symptoms can be anywhere from pain in stomach, to rashes, to even if untreated Cancer.

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Lupus is also a disease of flares, the symptoms worsen and you feel ill, and remissions (the symptoms improve and you feel better). (Wallace) Common symptoms of Lupus includes feeling very tired and having joint pain or swelling (arthritis), a fever, and skin rashes. The rash often happens after you have been in the sun. People with Lupus may suffer from mouth sores and hair loss.

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A fever also increases the ability of interferons. Interferons and fevers is considered to be non-specific because they only develops in response to a pathogen. They are cells and proteins used to fight infection. The first line of defense and second line of defense are similar because they both try to protect the body from pathogens that can cause damage to the body. They are both also present since birth.

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In the US, up to 64 million people are infected with influenza every year with 51 thousand cases resulting in death. (Treanor) The fever, runny nose, and body aches keep Americans curled up in their bed, miserable, all week. You try to do everything you can to isolate yourself from the virus, but somehow it always finds a way to get you sick. It seems like it is the same routine every year of taking days off work or completing make up work for school.

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The other components are antigen-presenting cells, which trap antigens and bring them to the attention of lymphocytes so that thev can mount their attack. How lymphocytes recognize antigens A lymphocyte is different from all other cells in the body because it has about 100,000 identical receptors on its cellular membrane that enable it to recognize one specific antigen. The receptors are proteins containing grooves that fit into patterns forrned by the atoms of the antigen molecule --- somewhat like a key fitting into a lock --- so that the lymphocyte can bind to the antigen. There are more than 10 million different types of grooves in the lymphocytes of the human immune system.

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